The Liturgy and the Vernacular

The text on the Sacred Liturgy
(Sacrosanctum concilium) states the following:

"The use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law, is to
be preserved in the Latin rites" [article 36 (1)]

but goes on to say:

"But since the use of the vernacular ... may frequently be of great
advantage to the people, a wider use may be made of it, especially in the
readings, directives and in some prayers and chants" [article 36 (2)]

So,
this says that the use of the vernacular can be increased, especially in the
items referenced. But what of the whole conversion of the liturgy into the
vernacular? Nothing of the sort is even mentioned. This means that what has
happened since the Council is in direct violation of article 36 (1), which
states that Latin must be preserved. Moreover, the Constitution goes on to say:

"Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or
sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the mass which pertain
to them" [article 54]

Which clearly states that Latin, according the Fathers
of the Council, would still be used in the post-Council liturgy, something that
has plainly not happened. I consider the above directives of the Constitution of
the liturgy to be noble and wise decrees, a fulfilment of the true liturgical
spirit that worked for a greater involvement of the laity in the liturgy,
through understanding and participation. The faithful should join in the
liturgy; internally through prayer, submission of will and in becoming one with
Christ in the offering to God the Father; externally through physical posture,
gestures and responses, where appropriate. Converting the entire liturgy into
the vernacular, which is what has happened, is total disobedience to the Council
itself and the intentions of the Fathers that voted on the Constitution, in
particular. Even Mgr. Lefebvre signed the Constitution, understanding that it
was a development rather than a complete revolution.

The use of the
vernacular expels much of the mystery and majesty of what is taking place. We
can hear and understand what is being said, but we cannot grasp, just by
listening to the words, what is actually happening. The use of the vernacular
makes the liturgy sound ordinary, when what is actually happening is the most
extraordinary event that the Universe has ever seen - the sacrifice of Christ
Himself. Many people have stated that the liturgy is plain boring, and I would
agree to a certain extent - its ordinariness makes my mind wonder, to think that
the eternal sacrifice is being re-presented to me seems to be beyond my
understanding at the time.

Moreover, it seems what often unified the
Catholic Church was its language. We could enter a church anywhere and feel at
home. With the liturgy now in many languages depending on where you are (and
sometimes in many languages in a single Mass), the sense of unity has been
destroyed. Unity of faith has also seemingly been shaken to its very
foundations; cafeteria Catholicism seems to be the order of the day rather than
obedience to Christ and His Church.

Latin has become a dead language,
only used by the Church in its official documents and its liturgy. A dead
language no longer evolves to reflect the current social climate, as do
vernacular languages. Therefore, the meaning of the words in Latin do not
change, so it provides a stable platform in which to celebrate the Church's
highest form of prayer: the Mass. The unchanging nature of the liturgy in effect
symbolises the unchanging nature of the Mass and the faith itself; the Catholic
faith has been revealed once and for all and is an eternal objective Truth
independent of all temporal existence. The liturgy naturally reflects this: the
eternal sacrifice of Christ surrounded by a liturgy that itself is eternal,
transcending our lives and bringing us closer to God through the sacrifice of
our Lord. To use a living language such as English, which is used in many
different cultures in different ways, is to surround the eternal Truths of our
faith with uncertainty and confusion. Moreover, what sounds noble to us today
may seem old-fashioned or even offensive in just a few years from now. We can
hardly afford this kind of instability around the action of Christ Himself; it
endangers the faith of those who attend and dispels much of the sacredness and
historical essence of the celebration. We believe in a Communion of Saints, a
continuation of what has gone before us. To radically change the liturgy and to
continue in this trend, is to symbolise a destruction of this Communion and the
faith in which it is based.

With the jettison of the Latin language, the
Gregorian chant has seemingly fallen by the wayside. The great treasure of
Church music has been destroyed, replaced by awful secular music that drowns any
sense of the sacred or mystery. The Constitution said the following on the
Gregorian chant:

"The treasury of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great
care" [article 114]

"The Church acknowledges Gregorian Chant as proper
to the Roman liturgy; therefore, other things being equal, it should be given
pride of place in liturgical services" [article 116]

Does your parish give
the Gregorian chant pride of place, or are guitars and "folk bands" given the go
ahead? Why are these people, in charge of our parishes and diocesan chanceries,
so disobedient to the word of the Council itself? Why has Latin, the language of
the Church which unified the Latin rite around the world transcending cultures
and national borders, been thrown out with so many other beautiful traditions
that the Church has cared for and fostered through the centuries?

It
seems that the present climate in the Church is obsessed with bringing down all
that is mysterious, beautiful and sacred to the level of man, to the level of
ordinariness, ugliness and profanity. Latin could not be understood by the
common man, so it had to be dispensed with. There seems little or no notion of
lifting man above himself to the level of the angels, of sanctification and the
realisation of the corruptness of modern society. The musical treasure of the
Church has now been confined to concert halls and opera houses, whilst the Mass
in which it was written for is surrounded by banal music.

Let
reinvigorate the language of the Church. Let us emphasise our unity in faith and
language. Let us raise ourselves up to the worship of the Church, not bring it
down to our meagre level. Let us be obedient to the Second Vatican Council in
its decrees on the Latin language and in fostering the musical treasures of the
Church. Let us, once again, celebrate and sing: Gloria in excelsis Deo!